Roxy Pro Gold Coast Reaches Quarter Finals

THE Roxy Pro Gold Coast is down to the quarter finals, the nitty gritty, with all the major players still in the game in clean three-to-four foot Rainbow Bay.

Former world champ, the still only 20-year-old Carissa Moore looked hungry in posting the day’s highest heat total of 18.43 out of a possible 20 for an unmatched display of forehand prowess during her Round 3 heat. Moore will take on Pauline Ado in the Quarterfinals when competition resumes.

“The waves are really fun out there right now,” Moore said. “All the girls on tour rip and you can see it when they’re given the opportunity in good waves. Stoked to move through to the next round in the event and hopefully the waves keep delivering.”

All the girls on tour rip and you can see it when they’re given the opportunityCarissa Moore

And the waves are forecast to keep on giving, pulsing up and down in the four foot range before increasing at the weekend and possibly even more into the early stages of next week.

Stephanie Gilmore, reigning five-time ASP Women’s World Champion and defending Roxy Pro Gold Coast winner, continued her hometown run today, posting a Round 3 win and advancing through to the Quarterfinals.

“No easy heats these days,” Gilmore said. “Feeling very good on the equipment and the waves have been very fun for us to start the year in. Excited to see what the coming days bring and hope I can keep progressing.”

Bianca Buitendag, South African tour rookie, caused an upset, besting her more experienced opponents in Round 3 to advance directly through to the quarters.

“Sally (Fitzgibbons) and Laura (Enever) are such good surfers so I did not take them lightly,” Buitendag said. “The waves are really fun right now though and I was able to get a couple that stood up well on the bank. It’s my first event as a WCT surfer so to be through to the Quarterfinals is a really good result for me already.”

Buitendag was joined by returning surfer Alana Blanchard who caused a huge upset in defeating fellow Hawaiian Coco Ho, in a high-scoring Round 4 affair. Tyler Wright, in her third year amongst the women’s elite tour and once again announced her intentions during Round 1, posting an emphatic win to advance directly through to the quarters.

“It felt good to go out there today and put in a couple good heats,” Wright said. “I felt like I surfed well yesterday but Coco got me in Round 1 so I’m happy to get some wins under my belt today and surf well. The field is so tough now but I’m through to the quarters and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going.”

Event organisers will reconvene tomorrow at 6:30am to assess conditions for a possible 8am start.